Emotion in data visualization?

Today I attended an event on #visualizinginformation. References at the end of this article. At the end, someone asked if there was a place for emotion in a factual field such as data visualization. It struck a chord with me…

I am starting today a series of articles where (I believe) emotion is patent in the way the designer(s) behind the visualization chose to represent the data. This topic interests me because I see it as intertwined with data storytelling. It is the opportunity for the voice of the (data representation) designer to come through. Now do users want to see/hear/experience that voice? And in “users” I include large corporate and governmental stakeholders for whom such visualizations are essential in driving informed decisions…

Today I chose one of the project by the amazing “ Periscopic” group, the “Do Good with Data” socially conscious visualization firm. It relates to the US Gun deaths in 2013. I think their work in phenomenal. But it is so cutting edge, that… could it also be a discipline in itself, within data visualization?

I illustrate above their "US Gun deaths in 2013" animated visualization with 2 moments: start and end. The full animation can be seen at https://guns.periscopic.com/?year=2013 This work followed the 2012 killing of 26 people in Sandy Hook, CT.

On the first image, you see life lines being drawn as arcs: they suddenly change from orange to white when life is interrupted. The point where the arc intersects the x is is the age the individual could have reached. Left shows “people killed” and right “years stolen”. At the end of the animation – December 31st 2013 – the number of orange / white arcs is staggering and so is the number of stolen years.

The emotion behind this data representation has to remind us of Charles Joseph Minard’s portray of the “losses suffered by Napoleon's army in the Russian campaign of 1812”, one of Edward Tufte’s favorite examples when it comes to superb data visualizations: “Napoleon's retreat from Moscow in the bitterly cold winter is depicted by the dark lower band, which is tied to temperature and time scales.”

Source: Wikimedia Commons

I hope this can be the beginning of a conversation. Should there be a place for emotion in the quantification and representation of data? Is there room for expression in a factual area such as data visualization? Between 1869 (the year when Minard first published his chart) and 2021, a lot has happened.

At a time when misinformation is running rampant, is there room for emotion in data visualization?

(The event attended was On Data And Design on February 17 – Stories around SDGs – online event? )